Monday, April 30, 2007

Hmmmm... I'm getting a bit behind, aren't I? Well, ball started up on the weekend... bevvys in the evening... and busy at work this morning, so I'll start from Friday night and see how she goes. There should be a little bit more down below the usual template stuff... so stay tuned!

Spotlight PlayerYou know, looking back on the last four days (the San Jose/Detroit game still pending at the time of writing this), it's hard to find a spotlight player. Other than the pending game at the moment, each team in the Conference Semi-Finals has won a game... the only other team is San Jose. If Detroit wins again... then maybe it'll be a Red Wing. So below will be my final answer.

Out of eight games, there was only one shutout. That was Monday night's game between the Senators and the Devils, where the Sens prevailed 2-0. Ray Emery recorded the four-point shutout to tie for the lead all players in points in the second round. Now the Senators lead the series 2-1 over the Devils with one more game in Scotiabank Place in Kanata. Advantage: Ottawa. It's now a home ice advantage for Ottawa and a 3-1 lead going into New Jersey would be a huge lift for all Sens fans and supporters in the pool.

Game Winning Goal Scorers of the NightIn the game winner column, it's already pretty much laid out for me. Let's see who's picked up the bonus points over the last four nights...

Friday night... Thomas Vanek scored the winner in Game 2 of the series between the Sabres and the Rangers. That was Vanek's second GWG of the playoffs. He's having a whale of a playoff year, so far. The Canucks took Game 2 of their series against the Ducks when non-pool player, Jeff Cowan scored the double overtime winner. So, there was no bonus point given out in that game.

Saturday... the afternoon game saw Pavel Datsyuk score with just under two minutes to go in the third period to lift the Red Wings over the Sharks. That goal levelled the series at one and gave 11 teams a bonus point. In the evening game... it was double overtime again before 10 teams cheered as Jamie Langenbrunner scored to even the series between the Devils and the Senators.

Sunday... yet another double overtime to solve the Rangers & Sabres Game 3 and it was defenseman, Michal Rozsival who put the biscuit in the basket to win it for the Rangers. Do you know how many teams picked up the bonus point? Two. That's how many. Two teams moved a spot or two ahead. Then it was Corey Perry who scored a second goal on the power play to win the game for the Ducks against the Canucks. The Ducks moved ahead in the series 2-1 going into Tuesday's game in Vancouver.

Monday night saw a shutout in Ottawa. It was Tom Preissing's second period goal that sealed the deal for the Senators and three teams took advantage of that bonus point. It was quite the game where the goaltenders stood out and you could say that Ray Emery got a couple bonus points for the shutout.

And as the evening wears on... the trend stays true. Jonathon Cheechoo scored a pretty goal around a beached Hasek in the third period to win it for the Sharks. So, each team won in the semi-finals. What a weird occurance.Technorati TagsNHL, Hockey Pool, Injuries, Playoffs, Scores, Hockey

Friday, April 27, 2007

Does anyone else get the feeling that this series might be a little shorter than once expected? By the first article I read on the game, the fans in Detroit seem to think that this series won't last long. They're probably right. The Sharks are circling the Red Wings and whomever has this morning's Spotlight Player (the four of you), look like bloody geniuses. Game 2 of the series will go on Saturday at 1pm our time. The game is in Detroit and will be covered by both NBC and TSN. Take your pick.

Spotlight Player

A 34-save effort led the Sharks to a 2-0 win over the Wings last night and Evgeni Nabokov had to be sharp. The Sharks were outshot 23-9 in the final two periods of the game and was perfect through the Red Wings three power plays that all came in the second period. That's a wonderful effort. If the Sharks maul through their chums from the Motor City in good time, a rested Nabokov seems to be the elixir that will get San Jose deep into the Stanley Cup waters.

Game Winning Goal Scorers of the NightIn the swamps of New Jersey, it was Wade Redden's first goal of the playoffs, early in the third period, that was just enough as the Senators hold off the Devils in Game 1 to win 5-4. Redden, added a bonus point to 13 teams in the pool last night. In Detroit, it was Matt Carle who opened the scoring in the game and the goal stood up as the only one the Sharks would need to take the game. It was his second goal of the playoffs and his first bonus point. It certainly made the evening of 16 teams in the pool. Wow... more Carle takers than Redden takers. Go figure.Technorati TagsNHL, Hockey Pool, Injuries, Playoffs, Scores, Hockey

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Welcome to the second round, everyone. This is where you're gonna start to see if you'll be in the money or not. The first round of eliminations have been made. Some teams fared well (Mike Emery still has all 22 players) or some fared quite poorly (regular season winner, Dieter, has only 6 left). Ten teams came out of the first round quite well, only losing 3 or less players, which will help in the long run. The eventual goal will be to have the maximum 6 players for the Finals, hopefully having that one guy that will put you over top of everyone else when push comes to shove.

Spotlight Player

This playoff season did seem to lack some really big nights, in my opinion. Of course, who goes out and gets one when I start to think that. Andy McDonald... that's who. He notched a hat-trick and an assist. The big line, which includes Teemu Selanne and Chris Kunitz, were held to a miserable amount of points against the Wild, but feasted on the Canucks last night. Thankfully, for all us poolies, only one team (now in 52nd) has McDonald, so unless he really starts to light the lamp... Greg will be down there and McDonald will have no significant value to the pool.

Game Winning Goal Scorers of the NightIn the Game Winners section, it was Thomas Vanek who scored the Sabres third goal in a 5-2 win against the Rangers on Wednesday night. Vanek, a pool favourite at 34 selections, was a welcomed sight to the GWG column last night. The Sabres take an early 1-0 series lead on the Rangers to Friday night. In Anaheim, Teemu Selanne had the eventual winner, which was a part of a 3-goal first period for the Ducks, on the way to routing the Canucks 5-1 in Game 1. The second game of that series also goes on Friday night.

Thursday night sees the other two series going ahead...

At 5pm on CBC, you will find the Senators in New Jersey to take on the Devils in Game 1 of that series...

...while at 5:30pm on TSN, the Sharks will be in Motown for Game 1 of their series against the Red Wings.

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

Marty Turco's shutout streak ended in the second period when Henrik Sedin scored at the 15:12 mark of the second period last night. Then the House of Cards came crumbling down for the Dallas Stars on Monday night. The third period was all Canucks and that was more than enough to eliminate the Stars by the end of the night. With only 46 selections made from the Big D, the Stars will not be sorely missed in the pool come Round 2.

Now, here's a look at the match-ups in the Western Conference in Round 2...

On Thursday night (on TSN), the Red Wings will take on the Sharks at JLA in Detroit. This should prove to be quite the series as both teams flexed some serious muscle in the season.

On Wednesday night, the Canucks travel straight to Anaheim to take on the Ducks for Game 1, which will be broadcast on CBC. The Ducks have had quite the rest, while the Canucks will be still flying high after their Game 7 win on Monday night.

Spotlight Player and Game Winning Goal of the Night

Lookin' good there, TL. Obviously, there's gonna be a little bit of bias here, but luckily for me, there is good reason for it. The red light gets lit up for Trevor Linden, as he scored the GWG in Game 7 against the Stars, which puts him well in the lead for active players in Game 7 games, when it comes to scoring. A big three points for Linden in the pool last night gives him the Spotlight Player this morning, as most would think should happen.Technorati TagsNHL, Hockey Pool, Injuries, Playoffs, Scores, Hockey

Sunday, April 22, 2007

It was pretty hard fought, but the Devils finally eliminated the Lightning in six games. The Lightning had their chance at home to send it back to the swamp, but the Devils were just way too strong. Lecavalier was taken 5 times... gone. Dan Boyle was taken 8 times... gone. Cory Sarich was taken 4 times... gone. Really, the Lightning wasn't really counted on to do very much in the first round and they certainly didn't.

So... now the Eastern Conference match-ups are decided.

Well, the number one seed in the league will host the hottest team in the playoffs in the first match-up. The Sabres will host the Rangers in the second round and it will be another battle of goaltending. Henrik Lundqvist, who has had a long rest after sweeping the Thrashers will take on Ryan Miller, who put away the Islanders. Chances for the upset will be there, as it looks like Jaromir Jagr wants to play, but the transitional offense by the Sabres will put the Rangers defense to the test.

The number two seed Devils will next take on the Senators, who were the number four seed going into the first round. Martin Brodeur will try and backstop the Devils against the regular season 50-goal scorer, Dany Heatley. The Senators did put a lot of offense up against the Penguins, while the Devils had a hard time getting through the Lightning. This may end up seeing the Senators into Conference Finals.

Well, it was a game that went against the statistical grain of sorts. The home team won every game going in. The team that scored the first goal won every game going in. Well, the Flames were at home and Jarome Iginla scored the first goal in the second period. Two overtimes later and the Red Mile is more like the Dead Mile... and as I'm writing this, I can be comforted in the idea that I will get some sleep. Yes, I live on the mile. It's just after 11pm and the rioting hasn't commenced yet... but this isn't Vancouver either. The Flames were not a big pick favourite, only chosen 79 times... so they weren't a big hit to the pool numbers. Good night Calgary... see ya next season.

Spotlight Player

Three assists was more than enough to help do the business against the Lightning. Patrik Elias and his seven supporters in the pool were more than happy to see the Devils go through for more point production in the later rounds. He's our spotlight player of the night for being the high scorer of the day.

Game Winning Goal ScorersI almost wish that there was another bonus point for the series winning goal, but that'll have to wait until next season, I guess. The Lightning were eliminated on a goal by Brian Gionta (taken only twice). It was Gionta's second goal of the game and it came only 39 seconds after Brad Richards made it a one-goal game. In the second game of the day, another non-pool player was the scorer of the winning goal to eliminate the Flames. Johan Franzen sniped a shot from just inside the blueline into the glove-side top corner to end the game in double-overtime. Just when I thought that I could give another point for ending the series... the goal wouldn't give anyone another point beyond the game-winner... 'cuz nobody has him. Ah well. Maybe next round.Technorati TagsNHL, Hockey Pool, Injuries, Playoffs, Scores, Hockey

The Canucks and/or the Stars will go only as far as Marty Turco does. A third win and third shutout on Saturday night shows how good both the Stars and Turco have been of late. When I say that though, the Canucks haven't looked like the team that took a 3-1 lead in the series. Monday night will have Game 7 between the two teams. A lot more people are hoping for the Canucks, as there isn't very many people who took Stars at all.

Game Winning Goal Scorers of the NightIn Detroit, Henrik Zetterberg (taken 7 times) had the bonus point as the Red Wings move one step closer to the second round. It was his first goal of the night that registered as the winner. Game 6 in Dallas saw another big game from Marty Turco, but it was Mike Modano who scored the winning goal on a 5-on-3 early in the first period. It was his first goal of the playoffs... and one team was sure glad that they chose him.

Who's Behind the 8-Ball?When Chris Chelios scored to make it 3-0 for the Red Wings, there was an imminent feeling of going behind the 8-ball in the series. When the final whistle blew, it was a 5-1 final. The Flames are now going back to Calgary down 3 games to 2. The home team does rule in this series, but with the nightmare of Daymond Langkow's punch and Jamie McLennan's slash, the Red Wings may want to get it over with to save themselves from any injury. Defenseman Brett Lebda will miss tonight's game with a concussion from the punch and as of this morning, we are still waiting to see if Langkow will miss the game due to suspension.Technorati TagsNHL, Hockey Pool, Injuries, Playoffs, Scores, Hockey

Friday, April 20, 2007

Only two of a possible three teams were eliminated on Thursday night. The Wild were knocked out by the Ducks and the Penguins ended their short run against the Senators. The Wild didn't have a lot of picks to their name, mostly Marian Gaborik, but there was one team with Nicklas Backstrom. More than not, however, most people had a good feeling that the Ducks were going to make it through. In a toss-up series like the Penguins and Senators, there was a lot of division between the 63 teams in the pool on who would make it through. So, it really didn't matter which team made it through or was eliminated... a lot of teams were going to lose a lot of players. No more Sidney Crosby, Jordan Staal, Sergei Gonchar or Marc-Andre Fleury.

Friday night, the Islanders gave it their best, but they fell short against the Sabres. A 4-3 loss eliminated a few picks from the pool, but not a great deal of them. Miroslav Satan, Richard Zednik and Viktor Kozlov were quite popular in a supporting forward role in the pool... as Islanders go. They were taken three times each and they were the most popular Islanders. Everyone seemed to have a good understanding that the Sabres were gonna roll over the Islanders.

In a series that was expected to go seven, it only lasted five and the hottest team going into the series, leaves the first round as hotter than when they started. The Nashville Predators have been axed from the playoffs by the Sharks after losing Friday night's late game 3-2. 81 selections from Nashville heading into the playoffs have been erased. A big loss to a lot of teams. Even Tomas Vokoun made it onto three entries.

Unfortunately for Gerald, he's down to eleven players... and there is still three series left to be decided. He's going to need Vancouver and Detroit to go through to ensure he still has eleven left for the second round.

Spotlight Player

Well, no one has him... no one wants him... especially since Sean Hill has now been suspended for 20 games after violating the league's substance abuse policy. He didn't register any points against Buffalo in the four games that he played in and it doesn't look like he'll have many games to play in the early part of next season as well.

Game Winning Goal ScorersOn Thursday night, there were four games. Let's see who tallied the bonus points in the evening. Dany Heatley scored the statistical dagger in the heart to eliminate Pittsburgh, but I'm sure the second and third goals probably did more to crush their chances. In Calgary, Daymond Langkow scored midway through the second period and that was enough to hold off the Red Wings and tie the series at two. Brendan Morrow scored the only goal of the game in the first overtime against the Canucks, so the Stars are now only one game behind Vancouver heading back to Dallas. In the other eliminating game, Ryan Getzlaf got credit for the winner and picked up the bonus point. The Ducks are the first ones through in the West.

Friday night, non-pool defenseman Adam Greene scored the winner for the Devils in their 3-0 shutout win. They took a 3-2 series lead with that win and will get the chance to win the series in Tampa Bay, early on Sunday morning. Buffalo knocked out the Islanders with Maxim Afinogenov's third period goal. Really, it was Ryan Miller who won the game for the Sabres, but it wasn't a goal... it was a huge save in the third to keep the game from going into overtime. Patrick Marleau scored his second of the game late in the third period to break the tie and then have the Predators eliminated. Only four people chose Marleau and gained that bonus point, which seems to me to be a pretty good... if only I took him. D'oh.

Saturday's preview

"On the road again, Goin' places that I've never been, Seein' things that I may never see again, And I can't wait to get on the road again."

A little bit of Willie Nelson for ya, just to remind everyone where the Flames are on Saturday afternoon. Yup. On the road. Again. In Detroit. Granted, they have been there before. They might not see it again... the combination of two losses or two wins... which ever you'll believe.

It's a 1pm start for the game on CBC. Damn that NBC, eh? Now you're going to have to neglect your chores through the day to watch the game. Ah well.

At 6pm on CBC... man, I'm hoping for an overtime or two in the Flames game, so there's little time in between... the Canucks are in Dallas to try and close out the series there. They took games three and four there, so it isn't as concerning as the early game. The twins will be relied upon to finally start scoring. Maybe we'll get to see a game that isn't a one-goal game and goes into overtime. Technorati TagsNHL, Hockey Pool, Injuries, Playoffs, Scores, Hockey

Thursday, April 19, 2007

It's true. 65 picks... down the drain. The Atlanta Thrashers were swept by the Rangers on Wednesday night. The elimination of Atlanta means that there will be no more Ilya Kovalchuk (2 points), Marian Hossa (1 point) or their top scorer, Keith Tkachuk (3 points). I don't think those teams who made Atlanta their favourite over the Rangers are really going to miss them... they didn't do anything to begin with. The most popular Thrasher was Box 11's Niclas Havelid. He was taken 17 times.

Now you can see how many people took a certain player... you can now go to the breakdown page. I was asked to add it, so I did. It's kind of interesting.

Spotlight Player

The first goalie through... Henrik Lundqvist is the spotlight player tonight. He won all four games to sweep Atlanta and collected a shutout for a whopping 10 points in the first round. Pretty impressive for a guy only one team thought was worthy of going all the way. Oddly enough, that same team had three Thrashers as well. No seriously. Odd, I know.

Game Winning Goal ScorersI've gotta go back another night first to recap the bonus points, so bear with me for a second. Michael Nylander won Game 3 for the Rangers on Tuesday night in the 7-0 rout. Non-pool defenseman, Anton Volchenkov, tallied the winner in the tight 2-1 win for the Senators to extend their lead in the series to 3-1. In Big D, it was Trevor Linden who picked up a rebound in the 3rd and buried it, along with the Stars, to help the Canucks to a 3-1 series lead. Minnesota lived to fight another day on Tuesday. Marian Gaborik scored the winner for the Wild, so they'll go back to Anaheim to see if they can do the impossible. Finally on Tuesday, Jarome Iginla did what was beginning to look impossible and that was score a winning goal against the Red Wings.

On Wednesday, Scott Gomez blocked a shot and scored the winner in OT for the Devils to draw even with the Lightning in their series. It was quite the shot in the far corner against Holmqvist. The elimination goal against the Thrashers was scored by Matt Cullen; taken by no one. On Long Island, the Islanders fell yet another game behind the Sabres with the credit going to Chris Drury for the winner. Lastly, the Sharks made home-ice advantage of their own, defeating the Predators 3-1, with Milan Michalek scoring the winner midway through the second frame.

Three teams face elimination on Thursday night... the Penguins, Stars and Wild will all fight for their playoff lives. All three teams will have to do it on the road as well, which makes the task even harder. How many more players will be eliminated from the pool? Who's hopes will get dashed a little bit more? Should be an interesting evening for hockey on Thursday night.Technorati TagsNHL, Hockey Pool, Injuries, Playoffs, Scores, Hockey